Perast Boat Tours: Island Trips, Bay Cruises and Prices

What a Perast boat tour actually covers

The island run is a shuttle, not a tour. You board at the Perast waterfront, cross to the islet of Our Lady of the Rocks, known locally as Gospa od Škrpjela, and usually pass the neighbouring islet of Sveti Đorđe with its church screened by trees. The whole outing fits inside a morning and leaves the rest of the day for the town itself.

A bay cruise is a different product altogether. Operators run guided day trips of six to ten hours that take in Kotor, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks, or head west to the Blue Cave, Mamula island and the submarine tunnel near Rose. The distances are short on a map, but the boats are slow and the stops are the point.

Choose by how much time you have rather than by price alone. If Perast is a stop on a road journey along the bay, the island crossing gives you the two islets and a walk along the waterfront without committing a day. If you are based in Herceg Novi or Tivat and want the water to be the day, book the cruise.

The short trip from Perast to Our Lady of the Rocks and Sveti Đorđe

Both islets sit a few minutes from the shore, close enough that the crossing is shorter than the time you spend on the island. Our Lady of the Rocks is the one you land on: a church on a small quay where boats tie up. Sveti Đorđe is a wooded islet with a monastery church that boats pass rather than land at, so treat it as something seen from the water.

The church ticket is separate from the boat. Nothing in the operators' published material bundles entry to Our Lady of the Rocks with a crossing, so budget for the boatman and the church as two transactions and check the church entry charge at the door.

How the waterfront boatmen in Perast work

The short crossing is not sold by the operator cited in this guide, and is arranged face to face on the waterfront rather than through an online booking page. That suits a flexible day, but it means the terms are whatever you agree at the quay, so settle them before you sit down. Confirm the return: whether the boatman waits on the island for you or comes back at an agreed time, and where he picks you up.

Agree the total price for the group, not a per-head figure, and ask whether it covers the return leg or only the outbound crossing. Ask how many people are already booked on the boat, because a full boat and a near-empty one feel very different on a short hop. If you are a family or a group of friends, ask whether the whole boat can be taken privately.

If you would rather have everything fixed in advance, the scheduled tours sold online are the safer option: a set departure, a guide and a published rate. The trade-off is that you lose the freedom to cross when the mood takes you, and you spend the day on the operator's timetable rather than your own.

Longer group boat tours that take in Perast and the islands

Petar boats, a family-run company working out of Škver in Herceg Novi, runs the most fully described programme for this stretch of coast. Its Bay of Kotor tour covers Kotor, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks over about eight hours and is priced from 40 euros per person. Shorter options include a two-hour Blue Cave trip covering the cave, the submarine tunnel at Rose and Mamula island from 30 euros per person, and a Blue Cave and Žanjic beach day of six to ten hours also from 30 euros per person. A fish picnic is the fourth option: eight hours from Tivat's Porto Montenegro, taking in Flowers Island and Arža beach, from 70 euros per person. The word from is doing real work in all four figures, so treat them as starting rates and confirm the final price, departure point and what is included when you book.

The practical catch is the departure port. These tours leave from Herceg Novi, which sits at the mouth of the bay, so a Perast call is a stop midway through a long day rather than a trip beginning at the Perast quay. If you are staying in Perast itself, the waterfront crossing remains the simpler way to reach the islets.

Private boat tours and hiring a boat

Petar boats also advertises private tours and bareboat hire, including custom excursions and transfers, arranged by phone or messaging rather than through an online checkout. That flexibility is the appeal: you set the route and the stops instead of following a fixed itinerary with a group.

Hiring your own boat is a different bargain. You get the freedom of the water but none of the guiding, so the commentary on the islands and the church visit arrangements fall to you. A bareboat also usually means someone in your party takes responsibility for handling the boat, which not every visitor wants.

Third-party brokers list per-day hire rates for Perast in sterling, with ScanSail quoting a range for boats in the resort. Those are broker figures in pounds rather than local rates quoted at the quay, so use them only as a rough sense of scale and confirm the actual daily rate, fuel and deposit with the operator you book.

Prices: group tour rates in euros

For a like-for-like benchmark, the Herceg Novi group tours price by duration and distance. The two-hour Blue Cave run is from 30 euros per person, the six-to-ten-hour Blue Cave and Žanjic beach day also from 30 euros per person, the eight-hour Bay of Kotor circuit taking in Kotor, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks from 40 euros per person, and the eight-hour fish picnic from 70 euros per person.

Read those numbers with two caveats. They are starting prices, so the amount you pay depends on the date and the boat, and they describe a tour departing from Herceg Novi rather than a crossing from Perast. For the short island hop, the rate is negotiated at the waterfront, so agree it before boarding.

Boat transfers between Perast and Kotor

A boat transfer along the bay is a pleasant alternative to the road, and Petar boats lists transfers among its services, arranged directly rather than sold as a fixed public service. Treat it as a private arrangement: ask for the price, the pickup point and the luggage allowance before you commit.

Cruise excursions are the other route, and resale listings price a short Perast-to-Kotor cruise in US dollars per adult. Those are third-party listings rather than Perast boatmen's rates, so compare them against a direct quote before booking, and check what the fare covers. The road along the bay remains the fallback when the water is rough or boats are full.

How long to allow, and fitting a boat trip around time in Perast itself

Give the island crossing half a day at most and the bay cruise a full one. The short hop plus the church visit and a walk along the waterfront fits comfortably around lunch, leaving the afternoon for the town's lanes, the squares and a climb to a Perast viewpoint above the roofs.

For the cruise, count the whole day: the Herceg Novi departures run six, eight or ten hours depending on the route. That rules out combining a cruise with a proper look at Perast's churches and palaces, so pick one and keep the other for a separate visit.

Build the day around meals rather than squeezing them in. A crossing before lunch leaves you on the waterfront in time for a table with a view of the islets, and the Perast restaurants fill quickly when a cruise group is in town, so eat early or book ahead.

Which Perast boat trip should you book?

Book the short waterfront crossing if you want the two islets, a church visit and time left over for Perast itself, and agree the return and the total price before you board. Book a group bay cruise if you are based further along the coast and want a guided day that takes in Kotor, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks in one go, with a published rate from 40 euros per person.

Whichever you choose, confirm the departure point, the duration and what the fare covers when you book, since the published group rates are starting figures and the boatmen's rates are agreed at the quay.